Expanding Perspectives: Work in Progress
Reflections on experiential learning and a reading challenge
I recently read the quote above which made me pause and think. I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember, and can easily get lost in a good book. Engaging with such concentration that the world around me mutes.
But I’m also a hands-on learner. And as much as I enjoy reading, it’s certain that writing, discussing, or immersing myself in the context of what I’ve read, is the faster way I learn.
John Dewey was an American philosopher and educator. He was an early originator of pragmatism, a philosophy that emphasized a practical approach to problem solving through experience. He was instrumental in instilling his belief that the best education involves learning through doing.
I’ve been reflecting on some of my early experiences recently, as I navigate change, but also as I help a family member navigate a first internship and help my kids explore interests for high school and college.
I credit high school science teachers who nurtured my interest in experimentation and desire to create. Learning in labs (more than classrooms) sparked my interest in science and technology, steering my educational choices and early career.
Internship experiences in college were critical to understanding education. Putting theory into real-world context. Or what ended up being corporate world context in my case.
My first internship was 6 months working in a commercial manufacturing environment. I was studying engineering, and my job was quite literally to find invisible chemical mixing problems. The problems were inside pipes on large machines running faster than the human eye can follow.
My job was to run experiments to fix the problems, which improved how fast the machines ran. Skip to 3:15 in this video if you’re curious what this looks like. Putting education and precise, problem-solving skills into the context of making basic paper products, so they’d be in stores for people to buy and use, every single day.
My second internship was in a different manufacturing setting. A summer simulating the effects of shipping conditions on diapers, on smaller “pilot production” machines. Effects like heat, humidity and compression that products would experience and cause damage, in a shipping container or on a delivery truck.
Parents don’t like it when diapers arrive damaged, and I was ensuring the products were shipped in a way that prevented that. Moving upstream in product development, from making, to considering more of the customer experience and how to make that great.
These hands-on experiences made school make sense. They also provided a foundation of understanding to build on and opened the door to a long, CPG career.
In my final semester, I had a different opportunity, to partner with a professor and advance her environmental sciences research. This was a special-interest project for me and an opportunity to branch outside my core curriculum. In this experience, I read a book. One that had a grip on me. And I’ve kept it ever since.
Challenge 3: Reread an Inspiring Book
If you’re following along with my challenges, it’s time for #3! As a reminder, #1 was an art immersion, #2 was a plank challenge. To celebrate National Reading Month, this next challenge is to read a book.
But not just any book.
Revisit a book from your past.
One you remember liking, that challenged your assumptions, or left you intellectually inspired.
This should be a book you remember not being able to put down, and that you read over 10 years ago.
Now, read it again.
How has your perspective changed since you read it last?
How does your life experience shape your interpretation now?
The book I’ll read for this challenge is called Our Stolen Future.
First introduced in the late 90s, it presented hypotheses on the topic of endocrine disruption and laid a foundation for thousands of scientific articles since. It explores how chemical pollutants are changing environmental ecosystems and impacting human fertility. Scary stuff.
I read this book over 20 years ago, in my final semester working with a professor studying the effects of chemical pollution in the Great Lakes region. My assignment was to read the book and infuse insights and perspective into her broader research. I remember being completely enthralled by it.
I’m excited to read it again.
Check back soon to see what I re-learn!
And follow me on Medium and LinkedIn for more career, life and personal reflection.
